Skyglow
by FiiERCELYBANGiiN
Summary: When Corey Daniels arrives in Forks, Washington, he's nervous, but expects nothing more than to blend right in with his surroundings. But when he meets the Cullens--one in particular--he gets all that he bargained for and more. R&R!


Forks High School had upwards of about three hundred students, plus one. This was a little unnerving for me indefinitely; my junior class alone had been over seven hundred.

I hated being the new kid. A notional freak, an outcast; an outsider from sunny Phoenix. So abnormal and out of place in a town like rainy Forks.

Maybe if I fit the part more. If I looked like I actually came from a sun-soaked state. But no; I'm _nowhere_ near looking like some waterpolo player, a bronze-skinned guy with a toned rack of abs and bulging biceps to match.

First of all, I'd never been any good at sports. _Any _sports. I have no hand eye coordination whatsoever. At all. None. Therefore, I'm not exactly physically active. But I somehow manage to stay pretty slim. I've always had these shoulders that felt too big for me and torso that felt too small. To be honest, I'm average-looking. Short strawberry blond hair, eyes the palest color of blue. But I still don't feel like I fit in anywhere physically.

I stared out the window of my truck through the thick sheets of rain, watching nervously as students hurrying up the sidewalk actually took the time to stop and look around for the source of the roaring noise that was the engine. I cringed away from the glass and towards the heater. Maybe I should just go home. There's always home school right? Maybe internet curriculum for high schools.

And yet…

I stepped reluctantly out of the toasty, gasoline scented driver's seat right into a deep puddle. I could feel the rain beating down on my denim jacket and immediately cursed myself for not wearing something with a hood. I dashed up to the front office and threw myself through the door, hearing the slosh of water in my rain boots. An old, slightly woman sitting in front of one of the three desks in the room stared at me, mouth agape, through thick wire rimmed glasses.

"Er, hello," I said as I shuffled up to her, my cheeks flamed with embarrassment, "I'm Corey Daniels."

Her eyes widened a fraction and I inwardly groaned; I was expected. Son of the Chief's frivolous ex-wife who left him for a minor league baseball player.

"Of course," she said as she bent down and dug through the files beneath her desk. I glanced around as she searched for my documents. The floor was carpeted an ugly color of orange, flecked with clashing patches of dark gray. A few plastic chairs lined the wall and I gathered the impression that I was in a really ugly jail instead of a high school administration office.

"Here's your schedule, honey, and a map of the school," she said, highlighting the best routes to get to my classes on one of several sheets of paper. She smiled sweetly and handed me a slip which my teachers were to sign so I could bring back at the end of the day, verifying I hadn't ditched. I grinned back as persuasively as possible, trying not to betray my face and fall apart into a million pieces on the unsightly office carpet.

As I walked back out to my truck, the rain let up into a drizzle and I was able to clearly see a number of the arriving student cars. Quite a few Volkswagons; the cars here weren't exactly top of the line, so I didn't feel so disoriented, even though my truck was a behemoth next to the others.

The line to find a space to park in the infinitely small lot inched forward the tiniest bit. I looked over the map of the school a few times, enough to memorize where I should go so I wouldn't look like a lost puppy or something pitiful like that. I wasn't looking to make loads of new friends, I just wanted to fit in, blend with the green background of Forks.

I looked around, letting out an exasperated sigh as I waited tediously for the cars to move again. The nicest car in the lot seemed to be a ruby red Jeep, almost as large as my truck, that glinted in the sunlight. It stood out next to the dingy Volkswagons and vans and I was so busy admiring it that I didn't hear the protesting honks from behind me, which could have been in part due to the insane roaring of my engine.

I slammed the gas pedal and the truck lurched forward. After a few more minutes of scouting, I located a relatively out-of-the-way space that wouldn't cause an obstruction to anyone's car in particular. I stuffed all the papers into my bag, slung the strap over my shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath.

I can do this, I lied to myself weakly. It wasn't like anyone was going to bite me.

My legs were shaking, and I couldn't meet the obvious gazes at the "new kid." I hurried up to my English class, running into my teacher, Mr. Mason, and handed him the slim piece of paper.

"The secretary told me to have all my teach--..." He cut me off, handing me back the slip.

"I know who you are, here's the reading list, and take a seat in the back, class'll be starting shortly, Corey."

I smiled weakly, quickly rushing back to my seat, noticing with a sigh of relief that I'd already read all the books on the list. Mr. Mason went over a subject I'd been absolutely bored with in my other school, so I spent the hour eyeing the room nervously, while the person sitting next to me chatted non-stop. I couldn't believe one girl could talk for an hour without her mouth going dry!

"Oh, and you absolutely HAVE to come sit with me and my friends at lunch!" She said, with a huge smile on her face. I stared back at her for a second, and realized that I had no choice in the matter, and nodded. We walked out of the room, and she linked her arm with me while continued to attack my eardrums with her consistent gossip.

The cafeteria was bigger than I'd expected, and we went straight to her table. The introductions went as well as they could; I could feel Lauren and Angela's eyes on me, but I ignored them, pretending to be immersed in conversation with the all-too-shallow Jessica. My head turned at the exact moment to watch five of the most beautiful people I'd ever seen walk in, as if in slow motion.

They glided over to a table and it was a huge effort to even attempt to tear my eyes away. I turned my head to Jessica, needing to know what such amazingly good looking people were doing here.

"Jessica..who are _they!?_"

"Them? Oh, they're the Cullens, I don't know much about them except that their father is a doctor, and they're all adopted. The one over there, with the reddish tint to his hair, is Edward…he's always with his girlfriend, Bella Swan. Those two there, Alice, the spiky haired one, and the guy sitting next to her, Jasper, are also together. The only single one is the buff guy, Emmett." My eyes swept over all of them as she pointed them out, still struck by how they looked. When they settled on Emmett, I looked over his body, and slowly back up as I realized he was looking back at me with a look of...longing maybe? I couldn't understand it, but a small shiver raced down my spine when our eyes met, pale blue to pure, deep gold.

I got lost in his eyes before Jessica shook my shoulder, and I ripped my gaze away unwillingly, looking at the ground shyly for the remainder of lunch. A high pitched noise, the bell, shook me out of my reverie, and my mind went blank as I tried to figure out where my next class, Biology, was.

"Anyone have Bio. next?" I asked uncertainly. Of all people, Angela nodded, and walked with me to class. Fortunately for me, and my ears, she understood the value of silence, so it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Mr. Banner nodded to her as she took her seat next to Mike, a nice guy I'd met a lunch. Banner took the paper, signed it quickly, and gave it back to me while his eyes raked over the classroom looking for a place I could sit. I groaned inwardly as I saw the only open seat was next to the one person I couldn't stop thinking about since lunch.

Emmett.

I glanced at Emmett, who had his head pointed towards window, and I walked, clumsily, over to the vacant chair. I sat down slowly, turning around to say a polite hello, and shrank back in shock as I saw the pure hatred in his eyes, having no idea what I did to deserve it. I sat in my chair with my head pushed into the book, refusing to look in his direction again.

The hour was torture. I wanted so badly to look at the adonis next to me, but I couldn't stand to have him look at me like that again. Waves of relief washed over me when the bell rang, and I couldn't shake the thought that I'd done nothing to Emmett to deserve his expression of animosity. I shook it off as best I could while Angela and I made our way to gym, the last hour of my horrible first day. The coach signed the slip, and gave it back, telling me to go sit in the bleachers for today. I nodded, watching the other people in my period play volleyball. Angela was surprisingly good at it, and did most of the work for her team.

The last bell of the day rang, and wouldn't you know, it was raining. Again. Even worse, I had to go all the way up to the office, and turn in the paper with all my teachers signatures on it. Soaking wet, and frozen to the bone, I pulled open the door and was greeted with a warm blast of fresh air. The only boy in there besides me, from what I could see, had toned muscles that I could clearly be seen even through the back of his jacket.

Once again, Emmett.

As soon as I entered, he turned around, shot me the same glance like in Biology, as if I'd done the worst thing imaginable to him, and said to the old lady in a hard tight voice, "It's fine, I'll just make do with my current schedule."

This stranger, this boy I have never even spoken to, would go to such lengths to change their schedule to get away from me? That was all I could think of, I knew I was the reason.

Before I could blink an eye, he disappeared through the door leaving me more bewildered than before. I got up sluggishly, almost dazedly, and handed the woman my slip.

After what seemed like an hour of trudging through the battering rain, I made it back to the lot, spying my enormous green truck immediately, and was surprised to see a shiny silver Volvo wedged into the space next to me.

The Cullens.

Four of them were sitting on the hood, talking in heated voices, and I saw Emmett in the back seat with his head between his legs. I trembled somewhat when their gorgeous heads all turned and followed me as I walked past and climbed into my safe, hulking truck. It barely registered in the back of my mind that they were sitting in the slashing rain, not noticing it at all.

I started her up, the roar of the engine deafening me, and attempted fruitlessly to ignore their looming presence. How could five strangers suddenly hate me in the course of three hours?!

Shaking my head and trying not to let it phase me, I sped my way out of the school lot, aching for the comfort of my bed and the warm atmosphere of Charlie's house.


End file.
